The present invention relates to computer assisted medical diagnostic and training systems, particularly web-based (internet) systems.
Medical points of entry, such as emergency rooms, rely on point-of-entry clinicians to triage incoming patients. There is little formal education or continuing education provided to these individuals to enable them to make the daily, specific, time-determined decisions that are necessary at the points of entry. Typically, a clinician makes triage decisions based on individual intuition and knowledge, which varies from one individual to another. Furthermore, as opposed to classical triage in which treatment decisions are made based on real scarcity caused by war or poverty, “triage” in the modern health setting includes artificial scarcity caused by contemporary demand management. This contemporary notion of triage implies an effort to enhance quality while simultaneously reducing the costs of healthcare delivery at points of entry.
The present invention is a web-based expert system for teaching “time-determined” clinical triage decision-making made at medical points of entry. The system models the thought process of clinicians performing best practices. The infrastructure of navigational specifications is based on generally accepted principles of clinical decision making within a time constraint framework. The present invention will be embedded within a known navigational system, which will serve to open and navigate the invention.
Alternatively the present invention is a web-based expert system for assisting triaging at medical points of entry.